"Hey... can you hear me...?"

The gem laying in the sand doesn't know why it's so bright, or who exactly the boy above him is. Or maybe... he does, but his memory is foggy after waking up. Everything just ... kinda hurts. Just in general. He doesn't respond. He almost forgot how to. Like his mouth is jammed.

"Hey, are you alright? ...You sure look exhausted."

Again, he doesn't respond. Although he is exhausted. His head felt like it was spinning.

"I am too, you know. We all are." The boy -- which the gem realizes, making it out in the blurs of blue and white, had fluffy white hair. "I mean... with all the crazy stuff that happened..."

The boy stops speaking for a moment. "...Hey, are you listening?"

...What...

...He... didn't... understand...

Why was he here... again...?

What happened?

Don't panic. He thought, blinking. Or at least, he thought he blinked. First thing's first. I have to remember...

He squeezed his eyes shut, to try and block out the intense light of the Jabberwock island sun, shining onto him. Keep calm, work my gem, and unravel my tangled memories.

He needed to stop worrying and think. He needed to think, think, think, think, think, think...

...There are shards of memory everywhere. It was like a puzzle to him, everything that happened. But even with that, he could probably piece together what happened.

...Yes...

...Come on-

That's right. He was...

He... is...

----

GOODBYE DESPAIR: GEM BOY

REWRITTEN

----

That day wasn't just another regular day for the gem.

No, it was much more significant than that.

He is a Citrine. Well, it's easier just to call himself Citrine.

Citrine, or going by his new identity Hajime Hinata, stood in front of the gates of Hope's Peak Academy, clad in his human disguise.

He had approached the day he had anticipated for so long. If he had a heart, Citrine bet it was swelling with a pride he still can't put into words.

This was his destiny. The continuation of the Earth colonization.

Citrine was, of course, a gem. He was of course a Citrine -- what he was -- was a type of gem usually made for fighting, as a strand of quartz. Quartz were foot soldiers, built to lead and battle.

Despite that... Citrine was... well, to put it lightly, off color. His body was wiry and skinny and small, he was not at all fit for fighting. However he was still able to exist in society, with limb enhancers.

Back to the school. This is no ordinary school, according to his research. Nothing about this place is "ordinary". Not least its importance to... well, the person he was impersonating.

A near identical doppelganger to him... Hajime Hinata, an earthling with short, spiky brown hair and skinny build. He hoped he would be able to keep this facade long enough to research and study the planet's habitat.

Anyways...

You know how a young baseball or soccer fan thinks about their favorite team? That was what the 'real' Hajime was like. Although, for him... goes beyond mere support. It borders on worship. Like a religion.

He remembered reading the messages on the phone he nabbed from the boy.

Well, ever since I was young, I've held that same kind of reverence for Hope's Peak Academy. I have one and only one reason for coming to Hope's Peak Academy. I revere this school. It represents everything I have ever aspired to become.

Yes, I pretty much worship it.

It was... a little disturbing.

Hope's Peak Academy is located on a prime piece of real estate, according to the locals, and has special approval and rights from the government. The school gathers together high school students from around the country who are top in their respective fields, and prepares them to lead the world into the future - to bear the hopes of all humanity.

When Citrine saw people talk about Hope's Peak Academy, one particular phrase always comes up in his research:

"Graduating from this school leads to certain success in life"... diamonds, how pathetic.

Because of this reputation, people have come to refer to it as "The Academy of Hope".

Pfft. Like anything from a mediocre planet like Earth would be hope.

There are two requirements for becoming a Hope's Peak student... of course, whatever student meant was beyond Citrine.

"One must be a high-school student"

"One must be top in their respective field"

Pfft. Dumb. Why wasn't the rest of society like that? Earth was so useless compared to his Gem Homeworld.

He then realized he should probably get to work.

Walking in the school, Citrine felt his being go numb, almost like being cracked. Or, rather, what he thought believed being cracked was like. He'd seen gems crack, glitching between a liquid goo to a digital form.

He ignored it. He had to succeed in gem society.

That has always been his one and only ambition. That has always been his one and only ambition... Always always always always always

alwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysalwaysHisHimselfconsciousNonIndividualityembarrassinguniformityjustwhatHopeItalent▲individualitybrokenPprobably■finallyIalways○DdohisBesthisdreamcomestrue~+he*

-----

Citrine woke up, sitting in a dark hallway.

"H...Huh...?" He mumbled aloud, standing up weakly. "...What's going on?" The hallway felt like... it was enveloping him in pure darkness. Like if he stayed there any longer, he'd get swallowed up by the dark abyss.

He then realized there was one, actual, solid non-abyss thing.

...It's a door. There's a door here. A wooden, primitive door.

He blinked once, then twice, then again, to make sure he wasn't going insane.

...But, more importantly, he'd better hurry. Well, of course, he meant that he should go into this classroom. Dumb earthling classroom.

Wait..."should"? Why? When did he decide...

No! There's no time for this! If I don't hurry... He hurriedly thought, running towards the wooden door and slamming it open.

There, standing in a near sterile room, was 15 earthling... students? Was that the right term? Regardless, 15 humans. 8 females, 7 males. Well, actually, technically, including 'Hajime' -- 8 males. But, Citrine isn't an earthling, so he doesn't count.

Citrine was silent. "...Huh...?"

An earthling female with gray hair and black clothing glared at him. "...Who are you?"

Citrine stood up straightly, realizing he probably looked like a mess -- panting heavily, and not exactly wearing human clothes. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't educated in how male earthlings dressed.

"...Eh?" He chirped.

Another earthling female -- with long, gold hair -- spoke second to him. "Um... are you quite alright? Your face appears most pale..." She said this in an awkward voice, averting her eyes from his presence. Was she embarrassed by Citrine's lack of...? Nevermind. That's a stupid thought.

Citrine blushed. "Oh, um, I... I'm..."

"Hey, maybe... Did you also just enroll here?" Another earthling female, with red hair, asked with a smile.

"...Ah! You must all be...?" Citrine asked, pointing at the crowd of earthlings.

An earthling male this time, spoke up. He had technicolor pink hair. "Yep! That's what it looks like. We're the new students here." This earthling... his appearance was insultingly bright to Citrine's eyes. He had gotten so used to the muted colors of the court he belonged to that colors that obnoxiously yellow made him squint.

"They're probably gathering all the new students in this classroom." A female spoke, her appearance composed of dull and muted pinks and blues. Which was pleasant on the eyes.

They're being... gathered? That's an unsettling idea to Citrine.

"...Oy. How about you at least close the door when you come into the room?" A voice -- a male one -- snapped at Citrine. He honestly couldn't tell out of the earthlings who said that. It was aggravating.

"Eh? Oh, excuse me!" Citrine squawked, closing the door behind him, and took an empty seat in the classroom's back row -- near an earthling with brightly colored hair and strange clothing

Why did he speak so politely? They may all be "Super High-school Level", but they're also dumb earthlings. But... first impressions are essential. So if he must act dignified around earthlings, he will. And so, Citrine tried his best to hide the nervous state he was in behind a blank expression.

His failing dignity aside, though... what in the stars just happened?

Before he knew what was happening, he was in a dark hallway and there was a classroom door in front of him... It was as if he'd been drawn there by something. But, how exactly did he come to be outside this classroom? He can't remember... that is... a little strange.

He sighed, trying to collect his thoughts. Citrine glanced at the earthling girl across from him, her appearance just as obnoxiously bright as the earthling male with pink hair. Her hair was multiple colors, black and white and blue and- it was an assault on his eyes.

She gave a cheshire smile, and a wave. "Hiiii! Good om-nom-noming-" She gave a pause. "-Classmate-chan!"

Citrine could only respond with an awkward laugh and a wave in return. What in the stars was an om-nom-noming...?

"Ok, so..." An earthling with a puffball of white hair and soft, muted colored clothes. "Um, ok, since we're all here... can I ask a question...?"

"...What is it?" The voice that snapped at him spoke again, answering the puffball-boy's question... kinda?

The puffball-boy coughed. "Uh, so I'm assuming this is the entire class... why did we all gather here in this classroom?"

Citrine decided this was his moment to add in. "I don't remember being told to gather here..." Which was a lie, technically. He's not supposed to be here in the first place. "Are we having the opening ceremony or something here... or something?"

"I was just thinking about discussing that matter with everyone."

The blond boy in the black suit, standing near the redheaded girl, frowned. "...You were? Thanks for the consideration. Mind sharing with the class, fucker?"

Fucker. Citrine repeated the word in his head, sealing his lips shut. Fucker. He repeated the word again, trying to learn it's entricities. Fucker. He repeated again. The vulgar, crude Earthling slang is so strange yet so fascinating, he would have to research the term and it's meanings later.

...Fucker! He thought again, not out of curiosity, but out of the shear... well, fun of saying it. Fucker! He repeated again. Heh. It was funny.

"You don't mind, do you? It seems we are all here, so we might as well talk about it." The man speaking came into view of Citrine. A plump human in a white suit with a blond mop of hair.

The girl next to him perked her head up. "Eh?! This is everyone?! How d'you figure that, huh?!" She asked.

"There are sixteen desks in this classroom. Now that he's here, there are sixteen of us. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." The plump man explained.

The puff-ball boy spoke again. "...So, what should we talk about? Does anyone know why we've all been gathered in this classroom?"

"There's one thing I want to ask first:" The blond earthling began, crossing his arms before pausing. "Does anyone here recall actually coming to this classroom? Raise your hand if you do."

"...Eh?!" Citrine softly squeaked.

The earthlings, including Citrine, all looked at each other's faces. Each one wore a startled expression. Not one person, earthling or not (which was just Citrine), raised their hand. Despite his disdain towards earthlings... he wouldn't find it in himself to lie. Hiding his true identity was one thing, legitimately lying was another.

The man nodded to himself. "Before I knew what was happening, I found myself here... It seems everyone here is the same. This is not natural. Your stupid faces tell me that you agree."

"That's..." The redheaded girl trailed off. "That is strange, you're right. If no one here can say how they came to this classroom..." She paused again, before gaining a frown. "Wait, what do you mean, 'stupid faces'?!"

The blond boy next to the redhead frowned again, this time somehow harder. "Oy, you better take that back, asshole."

Asshole... asshole... asshole...!

Eh, that word wasn't as fun as that Fucker word to Citrine.

"As soon as I entered the school," The large earthling began, "I was inexplicably struck dizzy, and then inexplicably found myself outside this classroom." He explained. That... sounded exactly like Citrine's experience, but now a dark abyss hallway.

"That was my experience. Was everyone the same?" The earthling asked.

"I..." Citrine delicately raised his limb enhancer-ed hand. "It was just like that for me, too..." He spoke aloud.

The next voice after Citrine, was from an earthling that Citrine couldn't see, perhaps too short to reach the gems eyeline. "Eh?! It wasn't just me? Everyone getting dizzy at the same time...? That's kinda suspicious!"

Third, was a demure earthling in pink. "I... It's, um, it could be very unlikely to be a coincidence, isn't it...?"

The fat earthling shook his head. "Which means it isn't one."

"...Eh?" The blonde female earthling from before, chirped.

Citrine was now realizing that he was now neck deep in a bad situation. As his first mission from his diamond. Stars, he should've stayed home today!

"In other words..." The blond paused, "this strange phenomenon had some kind of a purpose behind it. "

Citrine shivered uncomfortably. What this earthling was saying makes sense, even if Citrine didn't like it, but... What purpose is being served by this? And for who? Citrine didn't like the implications of this, not one bit.

A large, imposing man coughed, which nearly startled the ring off of Citrine's gem. "Ku...! We're skipping ahead here. The dizziness isn't the only issue."

The earthling with the obnoxiously bright color scheme perked his head up. "What else is there?"

"I mean we should tackle the details before we look at the big picture." The imposing earthling paused, to cross his arms. Citrine was confused by the point of crossing arms, no one on homeworld did that... "Before we try to figure out why we've been gathered here, we need to figure out why we can't leave."

Citrine nearly poofed. "...What?"

A taller woman, with tanned skin, bolted up. "Huh? Whadd'ya mean we can't leave?!"

The girl with the blonde hair, who was the first person that greeted Citrine, face grew pale. "Eh?! N...No way!" She ran up to the door in panic, and pulled on the doorknob with all her strength.

All the knob did was give a hollow rattle.

"I... it won't open! Why won't it open?!" The girl squawked in distress. After she said that, Citrine felt a fist bop his head, making his visor slid off the bridge of his nose.

"Great job, jerk! Since you closed the door, now we're stuck in here!" The criminal behind the bopping of his head spoke, which was high pitched and girly.

Citrine pressed his visor back on. "I didn't know it would lock! I just... just w-what is going on here?!" Citrine felt his voice crack in fear, now realizing how deep this was going.

The imposing man nodded. "Right after we came here," He paused, looking around the earthlings in the room, "I felt an urge and figured I'd go use the crapper... but that door wouldn't budge an inch!"

"The hell's goin' on?!" The earthling in the obnoxious yellow jumpsuit cried.

"If I couldn't open it with all my strength, you guys don't stand a chance." The large man answered.

Citrine's attacker ran in front of him. It was a smaller earthling, with blonde hair and... strange orange clothing. "Ehhhh? Why won't it open? Everything's gone weird!"

"S..." She hit me! Does anyone care? Citrine almost barked, but now is not the time to heal his injured ego. "She's right! Everything's weird! I mean, when I came in here the door opened easily... I didn't feel like it locked behind me when I closed it...!" Citrine explained.

The female earthling with the silver hair took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't know the details... but for now, it seems we need to accept that we're locked in." She explained, a sober tone in her voice.

...Locked in? What was happening...? Why was this happening to Citrine?

Citrine felt his entire body becoming heavy. Severe anxiety began pushing down on both his shoulders, almost like he was being crushed by the shear tension in the room.

Citrine didn't like this. At all. Something seriously shady was going on.

The boy with the white, puffy hair placed his finger tip on his lips. "Or maybe... maybe this is some kind of an 'entrance exam'?" He said, in a questioning tone.

"An entrance exam?" Citrine repeated. At Hope's Peak Academy? "But... I did research on Hope's Peak Academy, and I thought they didn't do such a thing..."

The puffball boy sighed. "Maybe that's just what they say publicly, and there's actually a special secret exam once the students enroll..." He pondered, before trailing off.

"Ah! That's not it! This isn't an entwance exam!" A high pitched voice spoke aloud, scaring Citrine and making him bolt up from the chair he was sitting in.

"Um... what was that? Just now?" Citrine squeaked, not caring now that his fear was clearly showing. If he had that weird pink juice in his body like earthlings, it would be going cold now.

The puffball boy, who was now near Citrine, placed a hand on Citrine's shoulder. Citrine would swat it off, but he was too scared to move his arms. "Uh, it's alright, don't worry," The boy said, probably trying to calm Citrine down. "Because, well... hopefully that was one of our voices, right...?"

The short, blond boy in the black and white suit glared at the plump earthling. "Yeah... oi, you plump motherfucker, don't go making baby voices in a fuckin' situation like this..."

"I don't feel like arguing about my body weight right now," The other blond boy responded, "but that voice wasn't coming from me."

"...Huh? So, who was it?" The white haired boy said in confusion, removing his hand from Citrine's shoulder.

"Um, it was meee!" The voice repeated, which made Citrine's body go stiff.

The imposing, muscled earthling jumped, his fists clenched. "WHO IS IT? WHERE ARE YOUUUUUUU?!" He yelled, which sharply jabbed into Citrine's gem.

"...Isn't it coming from behind that podium?" The girl with the long black and white hair, the one that said good om-nom-noming, answered. "I mean- if it's not one of use, then..."

Behind... the podium...? Citrine thought, glancing at the wooden thing at the front of the room. Was that a podium for earthlings? It was... quite small compared to the podiums he was used to.

"Bingo!" The voice answered, unnervingly happy. "It seems everyone's here, so wet's begin!"

Citrine watched in fear, in honor, in bone-chilling terror as... a chubby, white... thing(?) jumped onto the podium. It wore a white and pink skirt and had long, cone-like appendages at the top of its head.

"What is that... thing...?" Citrine mumbled, truly dumbfounded at the state of what's happened.

"Um..." The puffball boy hummed. "I think she, he... they... whatever, but I think it's a stuffed doll?" He answered. Quite reliable, Citrine thought.

"...Thaaat's wight, Komaeda-chan!" The puffball boy's name is... Komaeda? Citrine thought.

The class was deathly silent.

"I'm a stuffed doll and I'm made of felt, not velveteen!" The 'doll' answered, with a wave of a wand and a curtsy. "My name is 'Magical Girl Miwacle ★ Usami'... but you can just call me Usami! I'm your teacher, everyone. Pweased to meet you!"

Magical Girl Miwacle ★ Usami

CLASS TEACHER

Citrine almost slumped into the chair behind him.

"What?"